Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Q is for Quartette and Utter Q-lessness

I would really rather be discussing a whole host of great new performers whose name begins with a "Q" but, in reality, there is only one group/performer of note; a group called, Quartette. They are a folk-country group whose members include, Cindy Church, Sylvia Tyson and, at one time, Colleen Peterson. Quartette have won two Juno Awards since their inception. Here is their moment in the @Cobourgcobbie spotlight:

They possess sweet, soulful and beautiful voices. I thank them for naming themselves as they did because, otherwise, I would be completely Q-less, as it were. :)

So, my plan with the rest of this post is to introduce you to a few performers that I have unintentionally omitted during the course of this series and to give you a bit of news at the end. So, here we go:

I can't believe that I missed Breeding Ground when I was creating "B is for Breau. Broken Social Scene and Bahamas". When I was living in Toronto (attending Ryerson Polytechnical Institue), my musical universe was exploding! There were so many new singers and bands, so many parties and clubs to go to, so many good times waiting to be had. Breeding Ground was one of those new bands. This particular song, Happy Now I Know was very popular at the time of its' release in the early 80s. The female singer, as you may have guessed, is a young Molly Johnson, who was mentioned in an earlier post, "J is for Mendleson Joe, Carolyn Dawn John and the Japandroids!"

Blue Peter had big hits with Don't Walk on Past and with, Radio Silence. But, more than that, Blue Peter had a "cool" look about him and, as a result, feel free to picture me, in all my late teen/early twenties gawkiness, wearing my hair the same way, donning my skinny ties and showing off my white-boy jerky-swaying dance moves at all of the parties. It was a glorious time in my life-long love affair with all things nerdy.

While I have missed a few of my favourite artists in the fog of nostalgia, I have, also, omitted two current artists, both of whom are making a big name for themselves in Canada and the U.S. The first in Lindi Ortega. Originally from Toronto, Ortega has recently recorded albums in Nashville that have been very well-received across North America. She has a folk-country style that has earned her nominations for The Polaris Prize, two Juno Awards, as well as, several Canadian Country Music Awards. She has enjoyed hits with Tin Star, Little Red Bootsand, with this video, Cigarettes and Truckstops. Ortega is certainly someone to keep an eye on. Her star is, definitely, on the rise. Enjoy.

The other performer is a young lady from Prince Edward Island named Jenn Grant. Jenn Grant sings a combination of Alternative and Adult Contemporary. She has been nominated for several Juno Awards, has been shortlisted for The Polaris Prize and has won three Eastcoast Music awards for Song of the Year for her hits called, The Beautiful Wildand I've Got Your Fire. Her song, Dreamer, is the theme song to the hit CBC TV show,Heartland.

Jenn Grant is climbing the ladder to success but, as she does, she does so with a heavy heart. Two years ago, she released a song that was dedicated to her mother called, The Fighter. Grant's mother lost her fight with cancer not long after the song was released.

As for me, my bit of news is that I am approaching 1000 page views for this series. While those numbers may not seem overwhelming for my successful published author friends, they are encouraging for me. In the course of those 1000 page views, someone from Moosebait.com, a Cape Breton firm dedicated to promoting Hiking and Camping and all things Cape Breton, picked up my post, "M is for Rita, Ashley, Natalie, Buddy and the Barras" and has published it in their on-line newspaper called, "The Moose's Mouth". Again, The Moose's Mouth is a long way from The New York Times but, when you are a writer just starting out, it feels good to be noticed.

Thanks to every one of you for reading and sharing my work and for leaving such encouraging comments. It all means a lot. :)